Judge Forces First-Time Drug Offenders to Take Christian Drug Treatment Course

‘A municipal court judge in Louisiana with an apparently limited understanding of the U.S. Constitution is forcing first-time drug offenders seeking probation to attend a Christian program called “Life Choices” offered by a local church.
The First Amendment’s Establishment clause mandates that the government cannot in any way promote, advance, or otherwise endorse any religion, a principle well-established in federal jurisprudence. That bright dividing line between church and state also applies to court orders and terms of probation that require participation in religious programs, as can be seen in a line of cases decided in federal appeals courts over the past 20 years.
The fundamental principle behind Establishment cause jurisprudence is, as noted in Lee v. Weisman (1992), that government must remain neutral toward religion because “the preservation and transmission of religious beliefs and worship is a responsibility and a choice committed to the private sphere.”‘
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